1. Technical Field
The present invention relates in general to computer systems and, in particular, to graphical user interfaces. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to displaying resource aids transparently such that objects in a display area are not obscured from view by resource aids.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many operating systems include software for monitoring computer resources utilized by the operating system and other software applications executing in a computer system. Resources are any part of a computer system or a network, such as a disk drive, printer, or memory, that can be allotted to a program or a process while it is running. Such resource usage may be distinguished by categories such as user resources, system resources and graphical device interface resources. Text, charts or graphs may depict the resource usage. In addition, an icon including a graph for representing the device resources may depict the resource usage.
Most operating systems also provide a graphical user interface (GUI) for controlling a visual computer environment. The GUI represents programs, files, and options with graphical images, such as icons, menus, and dialog boxes on the screen. Graphical items defined within the GUI work the same way for the user in most software because the GUI provides standard software routines to handle these elements and report the user's actions.
A typical graphical element defined by a GUI is a window or other defined area of a display containing distinguishable text, graphics, video, audio and other information for output. A display area may contain multiple windows associated with a single software program or multiple software programs executing concurrently.
A GUI may offer the option of adding help aids for display within the GUI. Help aids often come in the form of a bubble or other distinguishable graphical area containing information to aid a user in performing a task or understanding the function of an icon, window or other object. Typically, help aids are positioned close to the icon, window, or other object for which help is provided.
Current resource monitoring software is different than help aids because dynamic data is monitored by current resource monitoring software. Current resource monitoring software is similar to help aids, and further limited, in that a user is required to initiate the monitoring application to receive resource information. Further, resource monitoring software is limited in that any display of monitored resources typically obscures the display area.
As the number of applications executing concurrently on a computer system increases and network capabilities continue to increase in importance, current resource monitoring systems are further limited in that resource information is not made available to users in a timely fashion. In addition, resource monitoring systems do not specify resource information across each application or specify the accessibility of a network link.
In view of the foregoing, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for dynamically displaying transparent resource aids in a display area, such that the transparent resource aids do not obscure the view of other graphics displayed. In addition, it would be advantageous to provide a method, system, and program for dynamically displaying the transparent resource aids in response to the position of a cursor or in response to a particular user defined event.